Golden bridge (idiom)
A golden bridge is part of the idiom build someone a golden bridge .
Those who will be built the golden bridge should be given the opportunity to withdraw without losing face. This makes the decision to retreat easier for him and minimizes his damage.
origin
According to Duden , Volume 11, Idioms , the term goes back to an old rule of war, according to which the fleeing enemy was not fought and bridges were even built for them to retreat if necessary. However, even in the art of war, the golden bridge is not due to chivalry, but rather to strategy : you let the defeated enemy go so that he does not give the victor another desperate battle.
Modern usage
In modern parlance, the golden bridge is sometimes a euphemism for bribery ; for example, if in political or economic life an active lateral mind is offered a higher-paid passive office. With a golden handshake , a high severance payment , an employee is built a golden bridge to retirement or the new job search.
Criminal meaning
In German criminal law , the phrase of the golden bridge is used as a possible justification for the fact that the resignation from attempting a criminal offense acts as a personal reason for suspension . A “golden bridge to retreat” should be built for the perpetrator through the resignation regulations ( § 24 StGB ), which motivates him not to complete the act (in this context referred to as “criminal policy theory”).
Sources and individual references
- Hans Delbrück: History of the art of war in the context of political history. Fourth part: Modern Times, Berlin: Georg Stilke, 1920 (reprint Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1962) (p. 350).
- Heinz Küpper: Dictionary of German colloquial language. 1st edition, 6th reprint. Stuttgart, Munich, Düsseldorf, Leipzig: Klett, 1997. (p.135)
- ↑ Werner Scholze-Stubenrecht, Wolfgang Worsch: Turnings: Dictionary of German Idiomatics . Bibliographisches Institut GmbH, 2015, ISBN 978-3-411-91128-8 , p. 137 ( google.de [accessed July 1, 2020]).
- ↑ RGSt 73, 52 (60); Doll , NStZ 1984, 264; Kudlich , JuS 1999, 241; Wessels / Beulke, General Part of Criminal Law, 40th edition, Rn. 626